He likened himself to a hermit after being forced to stay at home for 10 weeks following a kidney injury sustained in last years finals game against the Tigers, but now, Shaun Fensom is fit and raring to go.
His first game back will be the trial against the Melbourne Storm, set to be played in the NSW country town of Bega.
”It was especially hard coming into the off-season, because I wasn’t able to go surfing and was just basically being a hermit at home,” Fensom said.
”I couldn’t really get out and do much, and I love getting back home and going for a surf [at Urunga, near Coffs Harbour].
”I ended up buying a dog [golden retriever-labrador cross Boris] just to keep me company.”
Fensom is pleased to be back, after it was initially feared that he may miss the first few rounds because of his kidney injury.
2010 was a good and bad year by Fensom’s standards, as he had success on the field, but he was hampered by persistent ankle and back injuries that limited his game time.
”No physical exercise for 10 weeks helped my kidney heal ahead of schedule, because they said I could be out for six months with that,” Fensom said.
”It’s good to be able to get the trials in, because I may have been scraping in to be ready for round one when that happened.
”I ended up starting to do contact work just after Christmas.”
For Fensom, the chance to play alongside former Storm prop Brett White, who has joined the Raiders, gives him another experienced player to approach when he needs advice.
”Brett’s real good with technique stuff with wrestling, tackling and ground work,” Fensom said.
”He’s been involved in premierships and just has that level head.”